31. Olivia

31

OLIVIA

“Last but not least, this is the bathroom,” says the landlord, a burly guy named Kris, as he pushes open the door to a small, but clean, room with white tiled walls.

I follow Kris into the space, Aaron right behind me. It’s a squeeze for three people, especially when one of them is as big as Aaron. I try not to notice the heat radiating off his body behind me, but every time I so much as breathe, I catch the now-familiar scent of his skin—warmth and clean laundry and the hint of some deliciously spicy, masculine cologne.

I refocus my attention squarely on the task at hand, which involves appraising this teeny, tiny but bright bathroom. Luckily, given my rather nomadic lifestyle lately, I don’t have many toiletries to take up space in here. My stuff takes up a laughably small corner in Aaron’s master bath.

At that moment, my eyes zero in on the shower, and I tumble back to last night.

His white shirt, wet and plastered to his muscular chest. His eyes on fire. His hands on my body…

Kris, who looks to be in his mid-forties and lives with his wife and kids in one of the building’s top-floor apartments, frowns. “Is it not to your liking?”

“Oh, no. It’s nice,” I say quickly, my voice a little shaky. I can’t let my wayward thoughts of Aaron’s mouth on mine distract me, because this place is perfect. It’s not a huge apartment, by any means, but everything is clean and well-kept, there’s a communal laundry room in the building, and it’s close to transit connections to the airport.

Most importantly, it’s a one bedroom, which means no more raving roommates .

“ Very nice,” Aaron adds with a note in his voice that gives me goosebumps and makes me wonder if he’s looking at that shower thinking the very same thing as I am. I crane my neck around to look at him and find him looking back at me, that same fire from last night sparking in his eyes.

I swallow thickly and turn to Kris. “I’d love to fill out an application form.”

“Great.” He looks pleased, but then, his expression morphs into one of concern. “Are you feeling okay, Olivia? You look a little hot. Would you like some water?”

Fml.

“Yes, Olivia, would you like some water?” Aaron echoes with a smile in his voice that makes me want to simultaneously slap him and drag him into this shower to test out its kissing capacity.

Last night, after kissing me senseless in his shower, Aaron and I returned to the party like nothing happened. Well, he acted like nothing happened. I, on the other hand, blushed like a tomato and lied about having pizza stuck in my hair when Jake—who had been super distracted with Sofia all night—suddenly took a keen interest in why my hair was wet.

A story which made Aaron smirk at me in a secret way that left me breathless.

For the rest of the night, he’d go out of his way to surreptitiously trail his fingers on my arm in passing, and there were a few moments where I found him watching me from across the room with such an intensity, it made me lose my train of thought mid-conversation.

I’m not sure what it means, exactly, or if anything like that will happen again. But one thing’s for certain: that was the best kiss of my life, hands down.

And more than that, as Aaron and I went from breakfast at Essy’s to three different apartment viewings this morning, I’ve realized that something has fundamentally changed in the way I feel towards him.

It’s been difficult, lately, rectifying the fun I’ve been having with Aaron and our meaningful, surprisingly deep conversations, with the loathing I’ve been carrying towards him for so many years. It was like I couldn’t put the pieces of him together to form a whole person that I had one opinion about.

But after what he said last night, it’s a little easier to blend the then and now versions of Aaron in my mind.

Although, never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined him kissing me like that.

I’m about to make some veiled comment about wanting more water—because I’m still wondering if Aaron is thinking about last night as much as I am, and if he’s not, I want to remind him. But when I look at him, he’s taken his phone out of his pocket and is texting someone at lightning speed.

“Um, no, thank you,” I tell Kris instead, once again trying to redirect my thoughts. “I’m good for water. I’ll just take the application form.”

I filled out an application for the first apartment we looked at, too, but this one is superior in every way. I’m feeling relatively excited about it as Kris leads us down to the lobby. He gives me a form, and then heads into his office. I look up at Aaron, wanting to ask his thoughts on the place and confirm that it’s a good find—because I do actually kind of care about his opinion—when his phone rings.

He checks the screen and moves towards the door. “Uh, I’ll be right back.”

I turn back to my form and fill it out dutifully, but I can’t help but wonder who he’s talking to and if it’s the same person he was texting a minute ago.

“I can’t believe that you’re currently living with Aaron Marino and you’re applying to move here ,” Kris says from behind me. He’s left his office and is now watching Aaron pace outside with wide eyes. He managed to keep his inner fan hidden pretty well during the viewing.

“Trust me, I find it hard to believe I live with him, too,” I mutter as I continue down the form.

And that’s when my heart falls.

There’s a security deposit, but it’s more than I was expecting to pay. This building also requires the first and last month’s rent in advance. And the rent itself is at the top end of my budget.

Which means that, even if I do get it, this apartment is not going to work for me, financially.

I swallow thickly as I finish the form anyway. It would be awkward not to, especially with Kris standing over my shoulder.

“All good?” Aaron asks when he ducks back inside.

I nod, biting the inside of my cheek. “Yup. I’m ready to go.”

We each shake Kris’s hand, and then leave the building. I’m feeling a little downtrodden, and the worst part is that I’m not sure if it has more to do with not being able to afford that apartment, or not knowing who Aaron was talking to so urgently.

Clearly, I need to give my head a shake and snap out of it.

“You seemed to like that one,” Aaron says as we stroll down the sidewalk. “I did, too. The building looks safe and the landlord seems like a good guy.”

“I don’t know if it’s going to work,” I tell him, pasting on a small smile. “Bit of a stretch for me. But, it’s fine.” I wave a hand as we approach his car. “The first one we saw was a good option, too. And it’s within my budget.”

“Well, I wouldn’t write it off so fast. You never know what might happen.” I could swear there’s a twinkle in his eye, but he turns away to open the passenger door for me too quickly for me to be sure.

“You have to say that. You’re basically the epitome of golden retriever energy.”

He laughs—cackles, really—as he gets in on the driver’s side. “Alright, I might have an idea to cheer you up.”

“What’s that?”

“How tired do you think you’ll be after work today?”

Weird question, but I shrug. “Shouldn’t be too bad. It’s just a quick turnaround.”

“I was thinking of cashing in on our skating lesson date.”

“Tonight?” I ask in surprise.

“Yeah.” His eyes glimmer. “If you’re up for a date tonight.”

He says this so easily, pleasantly, like this date isn’t an obligation for him to fulfill. I raise a brow at him. “If I remember correctly, I was the one doing the bidding, and you were the bidd ee . Ergo, I am the one who gets to ‘cash in’ on the date.”

“I remember no such thing,” Aaron declares. “Look. I just got off the phone with Reagan and she’s happy to let me do the date my way rather than what she originally organized. So yes, I’d love to take you out tonight, Olivia.”

My heart does a little jump, and I have to remind myself not to get carried away.

Because he was talking to Reagan earlier about taking me on a date.

One that he organized himself instead of sticking with the one organized for him.

And the way he’s talking right now, the way he’s looking at me, this almost feels like it might not be a total obligation.

In a desperate attempt to play it cool when I am quite literally the opposite right now, I laugh. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

He grins, looking impossibly handsome for a moment, but then, grin turns cocky. “Hope you’re ready for a serious ass-kicking, Lil Griz.”

I fix him with a confident stare. “You won’t even know what hit you, Marino.”

He laughs deeply. “I’ll meet you at the airport later with your skates.”

His words make my stomach go fizzy. I’ve been a flight attendant for eight years, but this will only be the second time that I get picked up at the airport after returning from a trip.

The first time was two weeks ago.

Aaron again.

It means more to me than I would have ever imagined.

As Aaron pulls away from the curb and heads towards home, I tilt my chin up at him playfully. “So, let me get this straight, you organized this whole date without asking me. What if I’d said no?”

“Then I would’ve obviously had to assume that you’re such a terrible skater, you’ve deemed yourself unteachable.” His eyes sparkle. “Or I would’ve invited Jing to come with me in your stead.”

“Insufferable as ever, aren’t you?”

“You know you love it, Griswold.”

Excitement flutters through me, and I have to take a moment to regain my composure.

I press a hand to my forehead. I must be getting sick. And am possibly delirious.

For years, Christmas has been, for me, the most hateful time of year, and Aaron Marino, my most hated person. Yet here I am, impossibly excited about the thought of a Christmassy date with him.